Diabetes is a disorder of metabolism -- the way our bodies use digested food for growth and energy. Most of the food we eat is broken down by the digestive juices into a simple sugar called glucose. Glucose is the main source of fuel for the body.

After digestion, the glucose passes into our bloodstream where it is available for body cells to use for growth and energy. For the glucose to get into the cells, insulin must be present. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas, a large gland behind the stomach.

When we eat, the pancreas is supposed to automatically produce the right amount of insulin to move the glucose from our blood into our cells. In people with diabetes, however, the pancreas either produces little or no insulin, or the body cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced. As a result, glucose builds up in the blood, overflows into the urine, and passes out of the body. Thus, the body loses its main source of fuel even though the blood contains large amounts of glucose. (Information from an article on the Mediconslt.com web site, link below.)

Uncontrolled diabetes is a leading factor in blindness, amputations, kidney failure and even death.  So it is important to know the symptoms that could indicate that you might have it.

If you have any of the following symptoms, ask your doctor to test you for diabetes:

In type 1 diabetes (insulin dependent or juvenile diabetes), excessive urination and constant thirst are the classic symptoms.  If you are not interested in my story, you may go directly to the links that I have listed by clicking here.

My first brush with diabetes came when I was expecting my daughter. I was 32 years old. It was called gestational (or pregnancy) diabetes.  I was referred to a nutritionist and the diabetes was controlled strictly by diet and exercise.  I was warned at the time that it was a distinct possibility that I would develop non-insulin dependent diabetes by the time I was forty-five years old.

In the years when I was between 40 and 45, my doctor kept a close eye on my condition because my blood sugar levels (the prime indicator for diabetes) always seemed to fall on the borderline.  Not high enough to put me into full-blown diabetes, but high enough to warrant keeping an eye on the situation.

When I was a few months short of my 45th birthday, I developed a sore that refused to heal.  That was when my doctor officially diagnosed that I had diabetes.  I didn't realize it at the time, but I had been displaying several other classic symptoms: excessive thirst and frequent urination.  My doctor put me on the oral medication, which worked fine for several years. At this time, I also started developing cataracts in my right eye, which the eye doctor indicated were most likely caused by the diabetes.  I eventually had to have a lens replacement operation on my right eye.

In 1996,, my blood sugar levels went higher than normal again, in spite of the medication.  My doctor kept telling me to get it under control or I would have to go on insulin.  I don't like shots.  The thought of having to give myself shots once or twice a day really scared me.  Would I be able to do it?  I really worked hard at getting my blood sugar under control, but to no avail.  Then father died and my control of it went out the window.

So, there came the day when my doctor sent me to the pharmacy to get insulin and syringes and to come back to his office to learn how to give myself the shots.  I learned how because I had to.  I have found out that when you do it right, it doesn't hurt.  Testing my blood sugar levels four times a day hurts much worse, and it is only a brief pin prick if you do in the right places.

If you suspect you might have diabetes, or that you might know someone who has an undiagnosed case, I urge you to get to your doctor and have yourself tested.  They haven't found the cure for it yet, but they are getting closer every day.  The risks of serious complications that you run from having undiagnosed diabetes are very serious, even critical.  Diabetes can be controlled.  With control, you can live a fairly normal life.  In the days, when diabetes was first documented, a person's life expectancy with it was about two to three years. Now you can live to a normal life span.

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